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Working with and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for over 50 years.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

National Arc Alert: Take Action Now!

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Let's Get Health Care Reform Across the Finish Line!

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It is finally here! After decades of waiting and over a year of negotiating, the vote to pass final health reform is now upon us.

The House of Representatives will vote to pass the Senate health reform bill at the end of this week. If that vote fails, health reform is dead for this year and likely for years to come. We cannot let that happen.

We are too close to finally passing real reform and too much is at stake for people with disabilities. Here are provisions that are most important to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Provisions in the Senate Bill that are Most Important for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: (The House of Representatives is voting on the Senate Bill)

Coverage• Prohibiting private health insurance exclusions for pre-existing conditions.• Eliminating annual and lifetime caps in private insurance policies;• Restricting the consideration of health status in setting premiums.• Expanding Medicaid to cover individuals with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line (approximately $29,000 per year for a family of four).Benefits• Ensuring that minimum covered benefits include products and services that enable people with disabilities to maintain and improve function, such as rehabilitation and habilitation services and devices.

Access to Quality Care• Improving training of physicians, dentists, and allied health professionals on how to treat persons with disabilities.• Requiring the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to collect data on beneficiaries with disabilities access to primary care services and the level to which primary care service providers have been trained on disability issues. Ensuring prevention programs include a focus on individuals with disabilities.

Long Term Services and Supports• Increasing the federal share of Medicaid, known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (or FMAP), for home and community based services (HCBS) and during periods of economic downturn.• Allowing states to offer additional services under the 1915(i) Medicaid HCBS Waivers State Plan Option.• Providing spousal impoverishment protections for HCBS Beneficiaries.• Strengthening long-term services and supports through a two pronged approach:

1) Taking pressure off of the Medicaid program:

The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act would create a national long term services insurance program which assists eligible individuals and their families to meet long term needs with a cash benefit and without forcing them into poverty to receive Medicaid benefits.

2) Improving the Medicaid program:The Community First Choice Option would help to eliminate the institutional bias by encouraging state states to cover personal attendant services under the state’s optional service plan instead of through the waiver system by offering a 6% increase in the federal share of Medicaid for these services.

Even though the House and the Senate have both passed their versions of health care reform, the only way forward for the bill is for the House to vote on the Senate version of the bill.

Some representative in the House are debating on whether to vote for or against the bill. Even if they voted for the House bill in the past, many are still weighing their options.Your voice matters now more than ever. Call TOLL FREE 1-888-876-6242

Click on the "Take Action" link then put your zip code in the "Call Now" box to check how your representative voted in November. If he/she voted for the bill, say thank you and ask for the same vote this week. If he/she did not vote for the bill, explain how much health care reform matters to you and why. Sample talking points are provided.

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Power of the Disability Vote!

The Arc of North Carolina 2011 Legislative Agenda.

The Arc of North Carolina advocates for and with families and people with cognitive and developmental disabilities. We believe that the following legislative agenda promotes our goals of advocacy, inclusion, and access to the communities we live in.

The Arc of North Carolina Proposed Policy Agenda 2011

Budget:

The Arc of North Carolina understands the current budget constraints that the state of North Carolina finds itself in due to the economic recession. During this critical time it is more important than ever to protect needed services for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.We encourage the members of the General Assembly to do the following things to protect the integrity of community-based services for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities in our state.

No additional cuts to state-funded services for people with developmental disabilities.

Apply for 1915 (i) State Plan services for adults with developmental disabilities targeting supports that currently utilize state general fund appropriations and utilizing those funds a Medicaid match.

Add an additional CAP-DD Waiver for people with developmental disabilities who have significant behavioral and or medical needs.

Raise the Supports Waiver limit to 25 thousand dollars.

Utilize the Supports Intensity Scale as an initial eligibility tool for entrance into the CAP waivers with a reconsideration process utilizing other information.

Manage all of developmental disability services from a state system utilizing existing local structures where appropriate.

Housing:Fair Housing Act Amendment.

This legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis or receipt of housing assistance. Many people with disabilities receive housing assistance. This legislation if passed would assist in opening more housing opportunities to the disability community.

Education:Study ways to allow students with developmental disabilities to access current courses in our community college system. Included in this study we must look at ways to offer real job skill training to students with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

The Arc of North Carolina

Welcome to The Arc of North Carolina's official policy blog. The Arc has been serving people with disabilities for more than 50 years. In an effort to reach out to our statewide community about issues that effect us we have established this blog.

Become A Member of The Arc of North Carolina:We encourage you to become a member of The Arc of North Carolina. You can find out more about becoming a member by visiting http://www.arcnc.org/.

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Opinions expressed on this blog are not necessarily the opinion of the The Arc of North Carolina or The Arc of the United States.The Arc of North Carolina is a non-profit and non-partisan organization. It does not endorse candidates or political parties.